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MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan and Cebu took different routes toward victories in Manny Pacquiao presents 1xBet-MPBL 2025 Season on Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo rallied to nip the Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers, 76-75, in the nightcap, while the Cebu Classic controlled the second half to beat Quezon City, 69-54, in the second game of another triple-header in the round-robin elimination phase of the 30-team tournament.
The Bacolod Tubo Slashers snapped a prolonged slump with a 70-69 squeaker over the Marikina Shoemasters in the opener.
Caloocan silenced Rizal in the last 1:40 while coming through with seven points, five by Joco Tayongtong, to tally its fifth win against two losses, tying its victim, Pasay and Zamboanga SiKat in the race for playoff spots.
Nueva Ecija paces the field with a 7-0 slate, followed by San Juan (5-0), Muntinlupa (4-0) and Pasig (2-0). Bunched at 5-1 were reigning back-to-back titlist Pampanga, Quezon Province, Abra and Pangasinan.
Eric Camson capped his nine-point binge with a triple that pushed Rizal ahead, 75-69, but wasted his efforts when he bungled an open layup from under before the final buzzer.
Tayongtong wound up with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists; Jeff Manday with 11 points and five rebounds; Paul Sanga with nine points plus three rebounds; and Antonio Bonsubre with five points plus 11 rebounds.
Rizal drew 23 points and two rebounds from Alwyn Alday; including eight straight that gave the Golden Coolers a 62-55 lead; 17 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks from Camson; and eight points from Eric Joseph Pili.
Cebu, powered by Jan Jamon, built a 61-42 spread midway through the final quarter before cruising to its third win against four losses.
Jamon finished with 18 points and clinched Best Player honors over Dennis Santos with 10 points and seven rebounds; Ladis Lepalam with nine points and eight rebounds; and Paolo Hubalde with six points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Quezon City, which skidded to 2-5, got 10 points, eight rebounds and two assists from Jerome Santos; and nine points plus three rebounds from Nino Ibanez.
Bacolod, which went winless for 25 straight games last year before dropping its first two this season, leaned on homegrowns Mark Ray Dubouzet and Jaycee Sam Adjei to hand Marikina its eighth straight defeat.
The 5-foot-9 Dubouzet, from Sagay City, scored Bacolod's last four points to deflect Joshua Roque's triple with 15.5 seconds left.
Although the 6-foot Adjei bungled two free throws with 3.1 ticks to go, he fired six points in the fourth quarter where the Tubo Slashers clawed their way back from a 56-62 hole.
Following Adjei's misses, Marikina's Michael Angelo Macion snatched the defensive rebound and went for a layup, only to be blocked by Aldave Canoy at the final buzzer.
Dubouzet posted 21 points, seven rebounds, three assist and two steals to earn Best Player honors over Adjei, who tallied 19 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Canoy did his share with nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists, so did Ira Bataller with nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Miles Canal only notched four points but snagged 11 rebounds for Bacolod.
Macion ended up with 21 points and nine rebounds, followed by Nem Dela Cruz with 20 points and seven rebounds; and Rafael Go with seven points and a game-high 13 boards.
The MPBL returns to the Olivarez College Gymnasium on Tuesday, April 15, with a double-header pitting Pasig against Quezon Province at 6 p.m., and host Paranaque against Pasay at 8 p.m.
